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00:05Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're looking at challenges within the Zelda series that fans
00:09have created to make each game, or the whole series, more difficult.
00:21But before we dive in, we publish new content all week long,
00:25so be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
00:30The Three Heart Challenge
00:31One of the most famous challenges fans can impose on themselves in a Zelda game is the Three Heart Challenge,
00:38which is exactly what it sounds like.
00:40This requires going through an entire game without increasing Link's health by collecting pieces of heart or heart containers.
00:48In most regular playthroughs, taking damage is no big deal because you'll gain a pretty sizable health pool.
00:54But when that health pool is so small, every combat encounter has the potential to be devastating.
01:00There are games where this can't be done, like A Link to the Past,
01:03where you're forced to collect a heart container after defeating a boss in order to gain the pendant or crystal.
01:09You can still die as many times as it takes to complete this challenge,
01:13which is nice because that will probably happen a lot.
01:16Zero deaths.
01:29None of the games in The Legend of Zelda have a permadeath mode,
01:34but that hasn't stopped players from acting like they do.
01:37Another challenge that's pretty self-explanatory,
01:39the Zero Deaths Challenge requires you to beat a game without dying once.
01:43This is particularly difficult in the older games, like the NES entries.
01:49But with some of the newer entries, it's much more manageable,
01:52especially if you've played them several times before.
01:54Plus, there's no rule against extending Link's health
01:57unless you try to combine this with the Three Heart Challenge,
02:01which sounds like a nightmare.
02:03Still, not having that safety net understandably adds more stress.
02:06Though, it actually does get you a reward in one game, Link's Awakening,
02:10which comes with a bonus ending scene for beating it without dying.
02:15The Uber Challenge
02:16The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
02:19Designed by GameFAQs user ManoCheese,
02:22the Uber Challenge of Ocarina of Time took on a life of its own,
02:26and it remains one of the most difficult fan-made challenges in the series.
02:31Some of the restrictions are simple, at least in concept if not execution,
02:35like never extending Link's health and never dying.
02:39There are certain item restrictions to also make things harder.
02:42You're only allowed one bottle, the one with Princess Ruto's letter,
02:46which is the only way you're allowed to use it.
02:48You can't get the Fire Arrows or Lens of Truth,
02:51nor any maps or compasses in the dungeons.
02:54The list is a lot longer than that, though,
02:58and some of the rules require exploiting certain tricks and glitches.
03:01You basically need ManoCheese's guide if you want to pull it off.
03:06No surface.
03:07The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
03:18Not long after the release of Tears of the Kingdom,
03:20players figured out that you can beat the game without ever going into Hyrule proper.
03:25While you can still increase your health this way,
03:27since there are shrines in the sky and a Hylia statue on the Great Sky Island,
03:32this obviously comes with some big challenges.
03:35Namely, that you'll never get the Paraglider and must rely on Zonai devices for travel.
03:40You can still earn the Master Sword,
03:42but the little amount of health makes everything much harder.
03:46Some other players have even gone a step beyond this,
03:49by either only sticking with the sky or only sticking with the depths.
03:54These playthroughs can cut out dungeons and, therefore, sage abilities.
03:59That adds another layer of difficulty
04:00while ensuring you'll have extra bosses to fight right before Ganondorf.
04:05Double Hero Mode
04:07The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD
04:10Several games come with the option for a harder playthrough called Hero Mode.
04:15Typically, this means Link takes double damage while hearts no longer appear.
04:19Naturally, pretty tough.
04:20However, with Twilight Princess HD, fans realized there's a way to make it even harder
04:26with the Super Smash Bros. Ganondorf amiibo.
04:28While most compatible amiibo will give you a certain benefit or reward,
04:33Ganondorf, hilariously, makes it so you take double damage,
04:37which can stack with Hero Mode.
04:39Common enemies that once only dealt a quarter hearts' worth of damage will now take off a full heart.
04:44Naturally, quadruple damage, with hearts completely absent from the game,
04:49makes this the hardest Hero Mode in the series.
04:57Swordless Run
04:58The Legend of Zelda
05:00The original game starts with Link going into a cave
05:03and getting his first sword from a kindly old man.
05:06Except, it doesn't have to.
05:07To make a hard game much harder, you can never go into that cave
05:12and progress through the majority of it with the other items.
05:16To start, you can either find enough rupees to purchase something else to deal damage,
05:20like bombs, and progress through the first dungeon to get the bow.
05:24Still, every other form of dealing damage will have a capacity restriction.
05:28That is, until you get the magical rod in the sixth dungeon, which will be your best friend.
05:34You can't actually beat Ganon without a sword,
05:37so all you have to do is reach him to complete the challenge.
05:40That, of course, will be a giant pain.
05:43The Reverse Order Challenge
05:45If you'd prefer your Zelda game to start bonkers hard and gradually get easier as you go along,
05:52then the Reverse Order Challenge is for you.
05:55This means completing every dungeon in reverse order, from hardest to easiest,
06:00usually with the exception of the final dungeon,
06:02since you can't normally enter it without having beaten all the others first.
06:06In most cases, this requires using a glitch,
06:09but you can actually manage this without them in the NES original.
06:13Of course, that's one of the games where doing this will probably be the hardest,
06:17since you're meant to have gained a lot more health before entering the eighth dungeon.
06:22Regardless of the game, though, this will be a mighty challenge.
06:25Low Stats Challenge
06:27Zelda II The Adventure of Link
06:30Why anyone would want to make Zelda II harder when it's already the hardest game in the series is beyond
06:36me,
06:37but there is a way to do so called the Low or Minimum Stats Challenge.
06:42This is the only Zelda game where Link earns experience, used to increase three stats.
06:47Life, Magic, and Attack.
06:49For this challenge, players must keep these stats as low as possible,
06:54which is one for two of them, and four for one of them.
06:58The four must go to magic, since you need it for certain spells,
07:02with the two ones going to attack and life.
07:05This won't make much of a difference during the earlier sections,
07:08but you have to avoid defeating a significant amount of enemies that give you XP,
07:13while becoming so weak in comparison to bosses,
07:16that it will eventually feel like you're endlessly chipping away at their health bar
07:20while being easily put down by them.
07:22A Single Loop
07:24The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask
07:27Majora's Mask takes place over three days that Link can continuously restart by traveling back in time.
07:33Naturally, players became curious if you could actually beat it in a single loop.
07:38Long story short, you can, but it takes a significant amount of planning.
07:43You have to get through the original three days first,
07:45so that Link can transform back into his Hylian form by learning the Song of Healing.
07:50After that, the clock starts.
07:52You have to use the inverted Song of Time to slow down the passage of time,
07:56which still only leaves you with little time to spare.
08:00You're on a time crunch, certain things happen at certain times,
08:04and in order to be as productive as possible,
08:06it's best to do certain parts of the story out of traditional order.
08:10Understandably, it's pretty stressful watching the clock wind down on this type of playthrough.
08:16Straight to Ganon
08:18The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
08:20The most popular fan challenge when it comes to Breath of the Wild,
08:24and certainly the hardest for most players,
08:26is going straight to Hyrule Castle after completing the tutorial of the Great Plateau.
08:32This means heading into the hardest area of the game without any of the champion abilities,
08:37and only with the weakest gear in the game and minimal health.
08:41The silver lining is that you can find some of the best weapons in the game within the castle walls.
08:46Of course, they're guarded by the most durable, hardest-hitting enemies the game has to offer,
08:51and during the finale, you then have to fight all Divine Beast bosses you skipped out on before Ganon,
08:57who has full health since you didn't do the dungeons,
09:00and is going to hit you really hard through your crummy armor.
09:04Many have done it by now, since Breath of the Wild is such a popular entry,
09:08but it's still extremely difficult.
09:21Have you completed any of these challenges?
09:23Props to you if you have, but share your experiences in the comments.
09:41Thank you very much.
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